Jul 28, 2009 - 03:12 PM

By Brian McNair

WHITBY -- A season in which the Brooklin Redmen produced only five wins ended with some encouraging signs Monday at the Iroquois Park Sports Centre.

Although a second-period surge by the scrappy young team fell short in a 12-9 loss to the Peterborough Lakers, the Redmen showed their fans there's a foundation in place for the rebuilding phase set upon last season.

In terms of wins, the Redmen took a step back from a year ago, but head coach Peter Vipond said the team is still headed in the right direction despite its 3-1 quarterfinal defeat in the Major Series Lacrosse playoffs.

"Not once did we quit. Not once did we throw the towel in. We could have thrown it in today here when it was 8-1, but we never did that," said Vipond, referring to the score near the midway point of the game. "There's a lot of upside to this team, a lot of upside. We're a few players away and a little bit of experience, but we'll get there."

Chief among those young players are sophomore Derek Hopcroft and rookie Kyle Buchanan, who scored twice each and combined for 11 points Monday.

Another, junior call-up Mark Matthews, also scored twice, despite being two years away from graduating from the Whitby Warriors.

So it's hardly surprising Vipond is encouraged about the future, especially considering he expects to see Shawn Williams return at some point, after the captain was dealt to the Brampton Excelsiors for four first-round draft picks this season.

"Shawn's a great guy and Shawn's a Brooklin Redmen. He'll be back. We miss his goals, there's no question," Vipond said of Williams. "It gives floor time to some guys who otherwise wouldn't have gotten it, where guys had to step up and say, 'hey I'm now the guy the team's looking at to score'."

Minus Williams, the Redmen roster had no one over the age of 30 and only a handful over 25, said Vipond. So, the rebuilding phase may still be a few years in the works before it produces the desired results.

"I think we need to draft extremely well. This year we have four first-round picks, so we need to do that, and we need to get a couple of kids out of Whitby who can play," he said, looking ahead to such current Warriors as Matthews and Mitch McMichael. "And then you're getting closer and closer. We need a goal scorer, we need a tough guy, and we need some more speed."

And, while one would think losing Williams was also a blow to the leadership on the team, Vipond said the Redmen are not lacking in that department, despite the relative young age of those wearing the letters.

"I really like the leadership of the so-called older players," he said. "Nobody works harder than Jon Durno and Derek Suddons, Stevie Hoar and Scotty Campbell. Those guys, they play hard every night. They could take nights off, but they don't.

"We've got to get better but we've got a pretty damn good foundation."